HMS ''Brigham'' was one of 93 ships of the of inshore minesweepers. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in ''-ham''. The minesweeper was named after Brigham in

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. The ship's bell is now in St Bridget's Church of England Primary School, Brigham, where it was used as a fire alarm until a more modern fire alarm system was installed. ''Brigham'' was sold to Australian interests in 1968 and renamed MV ''Brigham''. Refitted in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

as a prospective ferry she sailed with a crew of ten (via Las Palmas,

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

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, and Albany) to Port Lincoln, South Australia, arriving on 24 December 1969 after a 16-week voyage, including a lengthy stop in Cape Town. Sold in 1970 to the Australian company Southern Concrete, and taken to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

for a full refit. Whilst in Adelaide the company experienced financial difficulties and the vessel had the distinction of being the first vessel in many decades to have a warrant pinned to her mast for non-payment of harbour dues. Sold to NT fishing company sometime after and last heard of in the late 1970s being used as a

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

trawler in the

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References

*Blackman, R. V. B. ed. ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' (1953) Ham-class minesweepers Royal Navy ship names 1953 ships {{UK-minesweeper-stub